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“At the End of the Day,” the winner of the 29th annual Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival’s (TIGLFF) Audience Award for best feature film, will return to the big screen in Lakeland this coming new year.

The film is Lakeland filmmaker and LGBTQ ally Kevin O’Brien’s feature directorial debut. It follows “a conservative, Christian professor who finds himself planted in an LGBTQ support group to stop their opening of an LGBTQ homeless youth shelter in their small town,” the synopsis reads.

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The Tampa Bay International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (TIGLFF) is one of the largest and longest-running festivals of its kind. Founded in 1990, the 9-day celebration exists to showcase compelling film and video by, for or about the LGBTQ community that entertains, empowers and enlightens audiences. Its 29th year will do exactly that Oct. 5-13.

“It all goes back to community and being together in person,” Director of Programming KJ Mohr says of the festival, “sitting in a theater and experiencing film. You feel the laughter around you, you feel the tension. You’re with people who are like you and have experienced a lot of things you’ve experienced.”
TIGLFF’s screening committee began finalizing this year’s slate of LGBTQ programming in May. Of the hundreds of submissions received, its 20 members pared the festival’s offerings down to just over 30 selections—including Lakeland filmmaker Kevin O’Brien’s comedic drama “At the End of the Day.”

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LAKELAND, Fla. | Kevin O’Brien, a local-area filmmaker, announced that he will hold a special sneak peek of his first feature-length film “At the End of the Day” at the historic Polk Theatre in Lakeland May 18.

“At the End of the Day” is a dramatic comedy that explores the tensions between the evangelical church and the LGBTQ community. Dave Hopper, played by Stephen Shane Martin, is a conservative professor at a Christian college who goes undercover in a gay support group to try and stop them from launching an LGBTQ homeless youth shelter in his small town.

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LAKELAND – Nestled on the I-4 corridor between Orlando and Tampa, many visitors don’t realize that Lakeland has quite an LGBTQ presence in Polk County.

“That was never more evident than that first year we held Polk Pride in 2015,” Dustin Shay, a Polk Pride executive committee member, says. “We were thinking we would have like 200 people and it ended up being 3,000. It was great. The following year Pride in 2016 we ended up having around 5,000, so this year we are really hoping to blow it out since we have gotten a little bit more exposure.”

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Every year, Watermark chooses stand-outs from the LGBTQ community – remarkable individuals who made a mark in the past year, whether through activism, generosity or beating the odds.

2016 has been a difficult year for all of us, both politically and personally, especially considering the marriage victory last year, so we’re looking to honor those who have made the most change, been the most inspiring and helped to make our LGBTQ community that much stronger in the face of adversity.

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Please join us for this free event with complimentary hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar with happy hour specials, and an update on what’s next in the fight for full LGBTQ equality. Our hosts at Fresco’s are really excited to help make this a fun event! Click here to RSVP: http://www.eqfl.org/equalityconnection/tampa4

here is no charge for this event, so please bring a guest! Our Equality Connections are a great way to introduce new people to the work of Equality Florida.

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William Harper, executive director of AIDS Service Association of Pinellas, will celebrate 20 years with ASAP in May. During his tenure, he has served in different positions, but all with the same goal: Helping those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

“I’ve worked my way through the ranks. I started out as a case manager, supervisor manager and then executive director,” Harper says. “I don’t come from my position of executive director as just strictly a business person. I come to it as a person who understands all of the needs of the organization and the community we serve.”

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“I love Scott’s passion for life. With Scott, failure is never an option,” John says.“He does everything 110 percent. He gives himself – all of himself – to everything he does, and that’s one thing I absolutely love about him.”

John Partain, who is the Florida marketing manager for Verizon Wireless, met Scott Guira, who is a Publix Super Markets manager, in 2004. They were young and ambitious, and very attracted to each other from the start.

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Watermark is a multi-faceted media company using opportunities and innovations to communicate and advance LGBT interests, with a corporate emphasis on professionalism while building strong relationships with our readers, customers and community.

Watermark Media was founded by Tom Dyer in Orlando in 1994, and expanded to Tampa Bay in 1995. Dyer is an attorney, former board member of the Metropolitan Business Association and Tampa International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and current advisory board member of the Harvey Milk Foundation.

Watermark prints up to 20,000 copies every other Thursday, and distributes them in more than 500 locations throughout Orlando, Tampa Bay, Sarasota and throughout the state. The newspaper donates more than $200,000 annually in free and sponsor advertising to worthy local and national LGBT non-profits.

Watermarkonline.com was launched in 1999. The award-winning newspaper currently maintains offices in Tampa Bay and Orlando and employs a full-time staff of 12, along with several part-time and freelance contributors.

Watermark Publishing Group, founded by publisher Rick Claggett, purchased Watermark in January of 2016. Rick Claggett is a long-time employee of Watermark Media and former board member of both the Metropolitan Business Association and Come Out With Pride.Read More...